Barcelona line up TWO summer transfers

Stuart Telford

• 19 Jan 2023 13:07 GMT
• 3 min read

Barcelona may be desperate to sell players this winter to balance the books, but that hasn't stopped them from lining up two blockbuster signings next summer.

Barca spent more than €150 million last summer bringing the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde to the club, but their group stage exit from the Champions League gave their finances a fresh hit.

The Balugrana had been €1.35 billion in debt when Lionel Messi left on a free to PSG in the summer of 2021, but they were able to splurge last summer after activating "financial levers" - effectively the sale of a percentage of future revenues.

READ: Memphis Depay 'blackmailed' by Barcelona over Atletico Madrid transfer

Barca are top of La Liga this season, and Lewandowski in particular has been a resounding success, scoring 20 goals in 22 games in all competitions, but they are reportedly willing to sell Raphinha already, while Memphis Depay is on the cusp of sealing a move to Atletico Madrid.

Summer reinforcements

And now Yannick Carrasco could move in the other direction. The Belgian is not explicitly included in any deal for Memphis, but there is a clause in his contract about moving to Barca.

"Carrasco can become a Barcelona player at the end of this season for €20 million after the preferential purchase option he signed with Atletico," report Marca.

READ: Man City ‘worried’ over new deal for Barcelona target

Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is set to join Carrasco at Camp Nou next season. The Germany international is out of contract at the Etihad this summer, and Jose Alvarez Haya of El Chiringuito TV claims it is a done deal.

"The Manchester City player will finalise the contract in June and they tell me that for family reasons, apart from the fact he's about to become a father in the coming months, he believes his time at Manchester City has finished," he posted on Twitter.

"They have it practically closed and they're telling me 'done' with Barcelona. Therefore according to what they're telling me, Ilkay Gundogan will be a Barca player from June 2023."